


Vapor

by Woodrokiro



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M, Orpheus/Eurydice Trope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 22:47:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20415559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woodrokiro/pseuds/Woodrokiro
Summary: Ichigo knows there's differences between himself and Orpheus... But there's way too many similarities. Inspired by Ichiruki Month Day 26 "Constellation."





	Vapor

The gist of the story goes something like this:

_Orpheus was the most talented musician in the world, played a harp like it was a limb and loved a woman named Eurydice like breath. On the day of their wedding, when they are the Most Happy and the Most In Love and there’s sunlight dancing through her veil she gets bitten by a snake and dies. Devastated, Orpheus marches with the protection of gods who love his music to Death’s front door, charming the three headed guard dog, knocks on it with a bang and demands to be allowed a performance for Death. The tune moves Death’s wife to tears, and even Death claims he has something in his eye, and that such beauty should not be composed of such sorrow. So he brings forth Eurydice, and though she looks a bit paler and weary, Orpheus is so, so completely in love with her, and Death allows them both to travel back to the world of the living— _

The first time Ichigo reads this story, he stops at this part with a slam of the book and goes out to save Rukia.

—

_… and Death allows them both to travel back to the world of the living if and only if Orpheus walks ahead of his bride, not looking back at her until they reach the sunlit realm of the living. If he does, then they will go back to the beginning and have to do it over again until the end is reached. Orpheus agrees, and they begin to walk home on a road of ghosts. After a time, Orpheus realizes he cannot hear her steps and begins to panic, believing that the gods have made him into a cruel joke with their trickery. He looks back, and her ghostly form is spun away into the wind, and he reaches for her hand but it’s not flesh at all, it’s vapor and he cannot catch her–_

The second time Ichigo reads this story, he stops at this part and covers his eyes with his fists, weeping.

—

Ichigo knows there is difference in this story and his own.

He is no musician, for one—unless you count the times he’s messily plucked at Chad’s guitar, silently hoping to be the next Jim Morrison. For another he doesn’t know if he _could_ really try to charm anyone as much as Orihime insists or Rukia rolls her eyes (“You have no _idea_ your power over people, Ichigo”).

And lastly… He doesn’t know what it’s like to get The Girl, even only for those few short moments. He can imagine what it’s like: for there to be no snakes or stones or heavenly rules, just his hands in her dark hair and a song playing in the distance and Them, just Them.

But it’s just him and his envy of a storied musician.

He thinks this is what he grieves for the most, he drunkenly tells Chad the night of his own wedding. He hasn’t dared look at Rukia all night, and Ichigo can’t help but think of the myth—as if she’s going to be torn away, or kiss her new husband beside her.

Both are nightmares.

In any case, he tries to be thankful for what he has. He has lived a life of adventure (wanting more), settled down into the comfort of his home world (wishing he was somewhere else)— and Orihime is off chatting to someone, and she looks lovely, she’s wonderful, she’s so kind to his family, she—

But the melody’s not right. Wrong notes are being plucked.

(Chad pointedly doesn’t speak to him for the rest of the night and quite some time after. He doesn’t know if it’s out of anger or frustration or disappointment or all the above.)

—

It must be the fifth time he’s done this with her, and both’s patience is wearing thin.

“So you’re saying both our marriages didn’t work out for any reason? That we’re not carrying something with us? C’mon Rukia—”

“Our marriages didn’t work for a _multitude_ of reasons, with little to nothing to do with this!” She motions vaguely at the air between them. “Enough, Ichigo. We’re too old for this. It is the same as before, and the time before that, and so on and so forth. We can’t keep doing this dance, it’s foolish—”

He runs his hand angrily through his hair. “So that’s it? We’re really gonna let this opportunity pass us by _again_?”

“There was no opportunity to _begin_ with—”

“So you’ve never loved me?”

She startles, taken aback not really by his boldness, but by how old he suddenly looks. How tired.

“I… You’re hearing things I never said.”

“If you don’t Rukia, it’s fine. Okay? This is you and me. No spouses, no noble families, no expectations. Just me asking. Because if you didn’t— if you _don’t_, then I’ll stop right now. We’ll continue to be friends, and I will never, never bring this up again.”

She fidgets, and her mouth opens and shuts with no words coming out, and she looks like she’s close to tears and Ichigo’s never seen this side of her before he realizes oh.

She’s scared.

“… I don’t know how to fix this,” she finally answers… And this, too, serves as a self-betrayal because Rukia always has reasonable answers. Always.

They stand in silence for what seems forever. His gaze softens on her, and she looks anywhere but him.

Eventually, he clears his throat. “Did I ever tell you the story of Orpheus and Eurydice?”

She finally looks at him. “No. What is that?”

He tells her the gist, not really focusing on the dog or Styx bits. Mostly just about the two of them. Orpheus and Eurydice.

“What does that story mean to you, Ichigo?” she quietly asks when he’s done, and for some reason this feels like a Very Important question.

It’s about lacking trust, he knows… But that doesn’t apply to them. He trusts her down to his very bones. Instead, he answers:

“It’s about never giving up. And looking forward, never back.”

She takes a moment, but she does smile; so although she sweeps herself away (in a cloud of vapor: just like the story) Ichigo’s heart sings.

He’ll propose to her tomorrow morning, too.


End file.
